Lender Disclosure

Federal loan regulations, set by the Department of Education, require a school that chooses to provide a Recommended Lender List to borrowers to disclose their method of selecting the lenders included on their list of suggested lenders. This guide is to provide information to borrowers about the method Susquehanna University’s Financial Aid Office used to create the 2014/2015 Recommended Lender List.

According to Section 682.212 of the Federal Register, published by the Department of Education, “A school may, at its option, make available a list of recommended or suggested lenders, in print or any other medium or form, for use by the school’s students or their parents, provided such list:

Is not used to deny or otherwise impede a borrower’s choice of lender

Does not contain fewer than three lenders that are not affiliated with each other and that will make loans to borrowers or students attending the school

Does not include lenders that have offered, or have offered in response to a solicitation by the school, financial or other benefits to the school in exchange for inclusion on the list or any promise that a certain number of loan applications will be sent to the lender by the school or its students” (U.S. Department of Education, 2007).

Why a Preferred Lender List?

Provides a comparison of selected lenders in relatively consistent terms, reducing confusion and assisting borrowers and their families in making the best-informed decisions.

Steps Taken With Decision Process

A Request for Information (RFI) was sent out to those lenders most often chosen by SU students with a list of questions regarding their products and services. These questions included the following topics:

Origination Fee - Grace Period

Standard Repayment Term - Extended Repayment Term

Current Interest Rate - Interest Rate Ceiling

Interest Rate Structure

Up-Front Borrower Benefits

Possible Guarantors

Possible Loan Servicers

Borrower Benefits at Repayment - Additional Discounts

Percentage of Borrowers who Qualify for Benefits

Once all information had been gathered and considered, the committee within the financial aid office made a decision for the 2014-2015 academic year on particular criteria (which are listed below). The responses used for 2013-2014 guided our decision-making for 2014-2015.

Criteria Used to Select Lenders

Borrower Benefits – In considering benefits, it was important to evaluate the lenders who offer borrower benefits to students as well as the percentage of the actual borrowers who qualified for such benefits. Such borrower benefits that were evaluated included the following:

Quality of Lender Products and Services – In evaluating lenders’ quality of products and services, it was important to determine which lenders provide exceptional customer service to its borrowers as well as the school. Such quality of products and services criteria used to evaluate each lender was as follows:

Ease of application process

Web-based application and services

Proactive customer communication, including easy access to borrower’s current and cumulative borrowing and estimated repayment information

A toll-free number for information and advice

Timely and responsive processing of loans including resolving issues

Expedient and simple PLUS pre-approval processes

Knowledgeable customer service representatives

Dedicated service or marketing representative assigned to the school

Lender’s practice to recommend students to maximize Federal financial aid first

Lender Stability – With regulatory changes and market instability affecting lenders’ decisions to remain in the student loan industry, it was important to select lenders who are reliable and will continue to service borrowers for future years. Such lender stability criteria used to review each lender included the following: